Up Against The Wall
by RetteMitch
Summary: Set after The Host. Sarah is entirely unhappy to be stumbled upon by Wanda and friends, convinced they are souls. But after blacking out, she has no choice but to join them, and give up her search.
1. Prolouge

**New story, set after the ending of the Host, maybe a bit less than a year. This first chapter is short, but I assure you that the rest won't be. Comment and let me know if I should continue, I'm just testing this out for now.**

I wasn't expecting to see lights flashing. It caught me off guard, and I tripped over a seemingly harmless rock. I went down. I went down hard. My head hit another seemingly harmless rock, and I saw stars. Literally, because I rolled over onto my back and looked up at the pitch black night sky, rubbing my head. I looked around to see the source of the lights, and saw a jeep approaching. That was entirely bad news. Only one kind of...being would be driving a silver jeep in the desert, and that was a soul. I, being not of the soul kind, was in deep crap if they found me, which they had, it appeared, as they parked in front of me, leaving their lights on. I heard car doors open, and tried to crawl backward. My head was throbbing, and I lifted my hand up to feel blood. My stomach churned as I looked at my now red hand.

"Are you OK?" A small voice asked, sounding much like a 14 year old girl. Had to be a soul. A human would assume I was a soul, and attack, or run. Definitely a soul.

I tried to stand, but my head was spinning, and I fell back down.

"Help, guys! She's hurt."

There were more? Crap. Crap. Crap. More car doors opened, and two tall males and a tall female approached. The small female came forward, and as the light hit her eyes, it was proven to me that she was in fact a soul.

"Get away from me!" I yelled.

"Um, maybe I'm not the best person to approach her..." the girl backed up.

"All of you, please, stay away! I don't want a worm put into me! I want to stay me! Don't touch me!" I was pleading with the filthy souls, but what else could I do? I'd been living alone for weeks, and instead of becoming stronger, I had become weaker. Of course I had, without Chase there to help me.

"We're not souls."

I snorted, "Yeah, right. I saw her eyes."

The boy with jet black hair directed his eyes to the light. It had to be a trick, how could he not be a soul? Why would a regular human travel with a soul?

"What's going on?" I asked, trying once again to stand up, this time with the help of the boy with black hair. I was exhausted, possibly dehydrated. I had no choice but to lean on him, or I would fall again.

"We're humans, except Wanda. But she's friendly, she helps us." The other boy explained.

I shook my head, then winced when realizing that was a bad idea, "There's no such thing. Leave me."

"You'll die." The human girl protested, helping the black haired boy to carry me.

"Better dead than a parasite." It took so much breath to speak.

"You wont be a parasite, I promise."

And I had no choice but to believe her. Even if I didn't, it didn't matter. My whole world faded to black. I was in their hands.


	2. They took Chase

**Well, I got one review, which is enough for me to press on! This chapter is longer, and reveals a little bit about what our main character has been through. I hope you enjoy it. Comments are always enjoyed!**

I woke up twice, sort of, before actually waking up. Both times, I knew I was not alone, and I was still me. And that was why I was able to go back to sleep, until the third time. I was more aware, and remembered that I was in the presence of a soul: not to be trusted. I sat up slowly, recalling my head injury. The light came on slowly as my eyes adjusted, and I realized I was in some sort of a medical room, it looked make-shift, jerry-rigged.

"Where am I?" I asked, blinking, and realized there were two people in the room with me. One, the small girl, hung back, and another, a the large male, was seated next to my bed. There was a third that I didn't see, because she stood behind him, but it was the tall girl.

"Underground. Our...hide out."

"Hide out? Why?" Soul's didn't hide, and I was still convinced that was what they were.

"From the souls. I don't want to be a parasite anymore than you. I'm Jared."

"I'm Sarah." I replied, "and you aren't a soul?"

He shook his head, and the girl behind him stepped up.

"Only two of us are. And they're helpful. They get us medicines, and taught us how to remove souls from bodies. I'm Melanie, and that's Wanda."

Wanda. They had told me her name before. She was a soul.

"And you help here?" I asked her, skeptical. After all, I had never heard of such a thing.

"Yes." she took a step forward.

"Tell us, have you been traveling alone?" Melanie asked.

I shook my head, "Only for about two weeks."

"And who were you traveling with before that?"

_"Listen to me, Sarah. Just be quiet and listen." Chase rubbed my arms, both of us crouching below my window inside my room. His straight blonde hair fell into his eyes, but I had no time to brush it away as I usually did, I was hysterical, my parents had been missing for 48 hours._

_"What, Chase? What?"_

_"It's...I don't know what it is, exactly. Some sort of alien invasion. They're...inserting parasites into people, and those parasites are taking over their bodies."_

_I snorted. My parents were missing, and he was feeding me this bull? "Chase, please."_

_He looked deep into my eyes. The same look he had used to convince me of his love for me, "Aliens?"_

_He nodded, "We have to run, or they'll take us, too."_

_What were you supposed to say when you had just been informed of an alien invasion? I had always thought of directors who tried to make a scary movie out of aliens as fools. Aliens weren't scary, you just couldn't make a scary enough alien. But these apparent body-snatchers were the most horrifying things I had ever heard of. I wanted to live my life in my body._

_"OK."_

_"OK?" he had my hand in his, and he was shaking it, more for encouragement than as if we had made some kind of agreement. He helped me throw a small bag together, and we jumped in his jeep right then, at three in the morning. We didn't know where we were going, but eventually wound up at the edge of the desert, staying in a small shack._

_"What about Stephanie?" I asked of his ten year old sister._

_"Taken." he said, staring off into space. I had no sisters or brothers to worry about, and my parents were already gone. He pulled me into his arms, and I cried into his shirt. I wasn't sure, but I thought he was crying, too._

_We ran together for as long as we could. Until they found us, and in the heat of the moment, he sacrificed himself so that I could run. I hated him for it, and I loved him for it._

_For two weeks after it, I roamed the desert, getting as close to town as I dared, in search of him. But I knew there was no use, they had turned him into a parasite. He was probably clean and happy, living in some small house, doing a monotonous job, with no thoughts of me. At least, his body was._

"He was taken."

"By the souls?"

I nodded, tears flooding my eyes as they always did when I thought of him, "Yes. They took him. They took Chase."


	3. I Love You

**I haven't gotten alot of reviews, but I'm grateful for the ones that I have gotten! Things are moving a little fast in the story, but I hope you like it:) Oh, ps...Chase is meant to look like Garrett Hedlund, as he was in Four Brothers. You can look him up on IMDB, if you want.**

Quickly, they set me up into a small room which I was sharing with another girl, small with dark skin and hair, named Tally. She loved, loved, loved to talk, as Melanie had informed me before showing me the room, where the small girl was sitting on the bed.

"You must be Sarah!" she jumped up, walking to me, "you're very pretty."

I smiled softly, "Thank you. You're Tally?"

She nodded, "Have you eaten?"

I shook my head, my stomach rolling with hunger. It had probably been two or three days since I had really eaten. She led me through another series of hallways, and all the while I worried that I would never figure my way around the place. She babbled about herself and how she had gotten there. There were so many people gathered together, I hadn't seen a large group of normal humans in so long, I did feel better just being around them. But I couldn't shake my fear, and my worry for Chase. The food wasn't excellent, but it was food, and I was filled up quickly because of my shrinking stomach. We sat at a table with other people that I didn't know, and the dark haired boy from the other night.

"Ian." He smiled at me, sitting next to Wanda.

"Nice to meet you. I'm Sarah."

It was obvious to me that they were together, this friendly soul and this human boy. Watching them almost physically hurt, it was so obvious they were in love, and it made me long for Chase.

_"So, I was thinking the other day..." Chase started off as we sat in my living room._

_I smiled, "And what did you come up with?"_

_He smiled down at me, my head in his lap, "It didn't take long. I came up with...well, I love you."_

_I sat up so fast I was surprised I didn't klonk heads with him._

_"You do?" My breath caught in my throat. Love?_

_"I do."_

_I smiled, wider than I ever had before, "I love you, too." I stared at his smile. His wide mouth, his large, straight teeth, his square defined jaw. Then his eyes, dark blue, large, almost almond shaped. His hair was a dark, dirty blonde color, and thrown about his head in such a way that surely was intended to look as if he had just rolled out of bed and left it._

_He leaned closer, pressing his wide mouth to mine, and I smiled while he did it. I had never met a guy like Chase in my entire life. He was absolutely perfect for me, not that our relationship was perfect. We didn't agree on everything, but I figured that if we did, it would be boring._

I decided that it was time to go back to my room. Spending time around Ian and Wanda was just entirely unenjoyable, though I found them both to be very nice, welcoming people. Tally joined a short while later, and caught me wiping the tears from my cheeks.

"You can talk about it, if you want..."

I shook my head, "I'm fine. Mourning a lost love and all that horrible stuff." I smiled, then sniffed.

She cooed at me, sitting down next to me, and I couldn't deny that it felt nice when she wrapped her arm around me, "You can tell me about him..."

"Well," I pulled the picture of him I kept with me, the picture of him and I before our first prom together, "this is him and me."

"Oh, Sarah. You look gorgeous..."

I smiled weakly, "Thank you."

"How long did you guys date?"

"Two years."

Her eyes went wide, "Wow. That's a long time, for high schoolers, at least."

I nodded.

"Hey, we don't have to talk about this. It's hard, but you're going to love it here."

I smiled, "Anywhere with humans is just great."

She looked at me, "I don't want to...get your hopes up but, we do know how to remove a soul from a body... if it ever happened that Chase was found, we could..." she stopped, "I'm sorry, I shouldn't say those things."

But I was already off, looking for the doctor that I had been introduced to not too long ago. It took me a bit to navigate the tunnels, but finally I found him.

"Doctor?" I asked timidly, seeing that he was not alone in the room. Melanie and Jared were with him.

"Sarah!" Melanie smiled at me, "What are you doing?"

"Um..." I wondered if they would think it stupid, me asking, "I was talking to Tally and she said...you know how to remove a soul from a body?"

Doc nodded, "Yes, Wanda taught us."

I nodded, getting more anxious by the minute, "I was...I mean, Chase..."

"You want to find Chase and have the soul taken out of his body?" Jared asked, smiling weakly.

"Yes."

I had known they would think it stupid.

"That's just what we were talking about." Melanie smiled at me, taking my hand in hers.

"You were?" I stood up straight, looking at all three of them, "What were you...I mean...what do you think?"

"Well, it's obvious to me that you're suffering without him."

I winced. Was I that pathetic?

"Yes."

"So we thought eventually, when you're ready, you could go on a raid with us. We could go to the last place you and Chase were, and see what we find."

I could've kissed her square on the mouth, "Do you mean it?"

"Of course."

And like that, everything seemed more hopeful.


	4. We're Going To Find Chase

**I've posted a link on my page to a picture of Garrett Hedlund, and it's just how I imaging Chase to look. Feel free to picture him however you want. I'll be soon posting a link to what I imagine Sarah to look like, if you want. Reviews make better chapters, so keep them coming!**

I had a lot of firsts, living underground. First time tending a garden, first time showering in a dark hole, first time feeling hopeful without Chase at my side.

Maybe a was pathetic, needing him so badly, but there was no way around it. He had been my life for two years, and though I was young, I knew he had to be my life forever. Over the next couple of weeks, I grew closer with Tally. At first, I had found her personality a bit over bearing, but I learned that she only meant the best. She was a great helping in getting into the groove of things, and she introduced me to just about everyone. Most were friendly, and I took a particular liking to Jamie, Melanie's younger brother. It was comforting to be around someone so upbeat. I found quickly that Tally and him were very fond of each other. Neither would admit it, but I knew there was something there.

"I know he likes her, he talks about her constantly," Melanie told me as we went to play soccer one day, "he just won't say it."

"It's the same with her." I smiled, "I'll get a confession one of these days, you know how she loves to talk."

Melanie laughed, and we began our game with some of the boys. Afterwards, I sat on a bench with Jared as the rest of them just messed around.

"So, how long before you think I'm ready?"

"Ready?" he asked.

"To go on a raid. To look for Chase."

He nodded, "I don't know, Sarah."

I slept uneasily that night, having dreams of Chase and I on the run, of him being captured. When I woke up in the morning, I was glad the night was over. For the next week, I went about my usual chores, and found more people that I got along with. I played soccer almost every day, finding it a great way to get my mind off things.

_"I don't know, Sarah." Chase smiled at me coyly, refusing to reveal the destination of our first date, even as we sat in the car driving there._

_"Not a tiny hint?" I said, nervously pushing my long black hair behind my ears as he laughed._

_"Not even." he gave me a wide smile, and drove on. We had probably been in the car half an hour until he pulled into a spot that I recognized._

_"The drive in! I've wanted to come here forever!"_

_There was a drive in about half an hour from our home town, and my friends and I had always talked about coming, but never actually done it. And that night, there happened to be a movie playing that I really wanted to see._

_"You like it, then?" Chase smiled, pulling into a spot._

_"I love it, it's perfect. Well done." I smiled back at him, scooting closer to him. Since he had asked me out, we hadn't had a ton of...physical contact. We were taking things slow, and that was just fine with me. But then, I felt ready to touch him, at least a little. So when he wrapped his arm around me, I didn't shove him away._

_And it was like heaven._

I slept uneasily that night, having dreams of Chase and I on the run, of him being captured. When I woke up in the morning, I was glad the night was over. For the next week, I went about my usual chores, and found more people that I got along with. I played soccer almost every day, finding it a great way to get my mind off things.

"You seem to be getting along great." Melanie smiled, "and just in time for the next raid."

We had just finished a soccer game, and if my legs hadn't felt like jell-o already, I would have jumped for joy.

"Oh, do you mean it?"

I threw my arms around her, and she laughed.

"Of course. We leave in three days, at dawn."

I almost started crying I was so excited. I knew it was a slim chance that we would find him, but it was a chance none the less. Kyle, Ian, Jared, Melanie, Wanda and I would all be going on the trip. For the next three days, I was so anxious I felt almost sick all the time. So the night before I left, I tried to get my mind off it.

"Tell me about you and Jamie." I said to Tally as we climbed into bed.

She smiled, looking straight down, "We're friends."

I laughed, "Lie! Such a lie."

She laughed with me, "Really, it's nothing. I mean, maybe I like him a little..."

"There we go. You guys are practically in love."

I teased her for a while longer, until I felt light enough to go to sleep. I was shaken awake the next morning at 5, grabbed the bag I had already packed, and followed Jared through the series of tunnels to get out. My heart pounded the entire time, and I counted my footsteps to focus. _We're going to find Chase._


	5. Part One, Getting Chase

**This is just part one of this chapter, part two will be coming soon!**

We got into the silver jeep that I hadn't seen since a month and a half before, when I was first put into it to be taken away. I remembered my fear at that moment, and how sure I was that it was the end for me, and I wasn't as scared for that as I should have been. What was life without Chase?

Now, that seemed like years ago, and at the same time, like I had just been there. We piled in, me in shotgun so I could tell them how to get to where we were. First, we drove to where I had been picked up, then I directed Wanda, who had to drive in case we got pulled over for any reason, to the nearest big city, where Chase had been taken as we tried to scower for food. By the time we got there, it was about ten in the morning. We went to the only place we could think of, the hospital, to see if he had recently been in. Wanda went in by herself, claiming to have been a neighbor of him not long ago. Turns out, he had been in, but was back out again. They kindly gave his address to her.

My breathing sped up as I heard it. He was there. I didn't know how she found him without a name, but then she revealed that she used the picture I had of him. She had taken it from my room to use, and I wasn't upset. Hell, it had helped, hadn't it? We decided that it would be best to go see him the next day. We all looked awful and dirty, and needed to put on new clothes and wash before appearing in public again. So, Wanda went to a local shopping center and bough clothes for everyone. It surprised me that they didn't use money, they just gave everything away. We got just one hotel room, and packed into it, each taking a turn showering and changed into new clothes. The jeans fit me nicely, and the black t-shirt was a little tight, but it was OK. I was thinner than I had been, all of us were. I brushed my hair out, and felt cleaner than I had in months.

"Oh, this feels great." I smiled at Melanie, laying down next to her as she flipped through the channels.

Melanie smiled, "I'm glad were doing this. I feel cleaner than I ever had."

For the first time, I noticed how pretty she was. Tan, tall, dark hair. She looked like an Amazon.

"Me, too," I smiled, "that was the most amazing shower I've ever taken."

We spent the night in the hotel, but I didn't sleep. How could anyone expect me to? When we woke up in the morning, I was literally shaking. But I knew that this was something I had to do, needed to do, wanted to do desperately. So we headed out.


	6. Part Two, Getting Chase

**A very short part two! The next chapter will be coming up after this, and I hope I get some more comments after that, but knowing me, I'll post no matter what. Haha. Thanks to those who have reviewed!**

We drove silently, though I was practically bouncing in my seat, to his house. It was small, and looked just like the house had used to live in. We agreed that I could go with Wanda, maybe seeing me would help, and Jared would stay close to capture him with the sleep we had stolen.

Wanda knocked on the door, and I stood behind her. When Chase opened the door, I barely recognized him. He looked the same of course, but so clean. His hair was cut short, something he would have never done, and he was dressed in khaki's and a polo. He always preferred ripped jeans and band t's. I gasped quietly at seeing him, and Wanda quickly took over as I averted my eyes so he couldn't tell that I wasn't a soul.

"Hi! I'm Wanda, and I just moved in the neighborhood."

Chase smiled warmly, a smile I knew well, and tears formed in my eyes.

"It's nice to meet you! I'm Scales The Moon. Or just Scales, if you want."

That wasn't his name. I fought back more tears.

"And who is your friend?"

"This is my older sister." Wanda looked to me.

"I'm Sarah." I finally looked up at him, into his blue eyes that I knew so well. His head jerked a little, as if he recognized me, but the troubled look was quickly erased by a smile.

"Sarah. You look...familiar..."

He stepped closer, and Jared pounced, giving him the sleep, and we quickly got him into the van. I sat in the back and Jared moved to the front. While Chase slept, his head in my lap, he seemed more like the Chase I had known. So peaceful. I cried over him, trying to keep the tears from landing on him. I hoped this would work, I hoped he would be OK. But I would just have to wait to find out.


	7. Removing the Soul

**OK, reviewers get cookies, so review away! I'm pretty dang proud of this chapter!**

Chase slept the entire way back to our home, and stayed asleep as Jared carried him down through the tunnels, and set him on the softest cot we could find. They gave him some more sleep, and no pain, to prep him for surgery. I sat by his bed as they got things ready. I hoped to God that he would be alright, that his mind could still be his after they extracted the soul inside of him.

_"Chase?" I whispered into the dark as we lay together on night, as he lay on the cot, his face blank as stone, I wished desperately to read his facial expressions as I had in the past. But his face was cold, hard, emotionless. He had never looked that way when he was sleeping before, but he hadn't been under drugs when he was sleeping._

_"Yeah?"_

_I smiled, glad he was awake._

_"What happens to you, after you become a soul? Would you still be able to thing?"_

_He shuffled onto his side, so that he was facing me, "I don't really know. Maybe you would be, maybe you wouldn't. It could depend on how strong you are."_

_"Then promise me that if you ever become a soul, you'll be the strongest." I scooted closer, until our bodies were pressed against each other._

_"Only if you promise the same thing."_

_"I swear it."_

_"Then so do I." He leaned forward and kissed my forehead, easing my worries just enough so that I could fall asleep that night. I couldn't count the number of times that Chas had to talk me into going to sleep. I desperately wanted to stay awake and keep watch, I had to warn him if anything was coming. Sometimes he would let me fall asleep before him, so I could do it. And other nights, we switched. Because as brave as he tried to act, he, too, was scared. He didn't often show it, but I knew when he wasn't feeling good._

And as he lay on the cot, his face blank as stone, I wished desperately to read his facial expressions as I had in the past. But his face was cold, hard, emotionless. He had never looked that way when he was sleeping before, but he hadn't been under drugs when he was sleeping.

"Are you ready?" Doc asked me, and I smiled.

"You're not operating on me."

He smiled softly, "I know. Would you like to leave?"

I paused a moment, "No, I want to watch." Seeing a soul being taken out of the man I loved couldn't be awful, in fact, it could be enjoyable, except for the cutting the back of his neck part. I wanted to see that parasite removed. They took him, very carefully, to the operating table. Ian held the tank, and I took it from his hands.

"I'd like to hold it." I said.

He smiled softly, "You just press that down, he'll slip it in..." he gave me quick instructions, a five year old could have operated it. Chase was laid carefully face down on the cold operation table, a cloth under his neck to catch the blood. I was taking deep, yet shallow breaths as Doc approached him with the knife. I felt Ian's arm around my waist, and I rested my head on his shoulder, and closed my eyes just before Doc made the incision. I couldn't watch that, no matter how hard I tried. When I opened my eyes, there was a short but deep cut on Chase's neck, that was bleeding.

_"You're bleeding!" I knelt next to Chase Hathaway, a boy one year older than me in school, who I thought was the cutest freshman there ever was. I had just watched him take a huge spill off his skateboard in front of my house, and had run over without thinking._

_He stood up, looking at his raw forearm, "Yeah." He shrugged._

_"Does it hurt?"_

_He laughed, "No."_

_"You should probably wash it out. Want to come inside?"_

_He looked me over quickly, then smirked, "Sure. Your house, you mean?"_

_I laughed, "Where else?"_

_I led him into my house and to the bathroom, where I gently got the dirt off his wound._

_"Ouch!" he hissed as I pulled out a particularly large clump._

_I smirked, "Thought it didn't hurt."_

_"It didn't until you did that!" He retaliated, his manhood offended._

_I dabbed at it until it was clean, hating the sight of his blood, happy to help._

I couldn't help this time. All I could do was pray.


End file.
